The partnership represented in the new Riverpark Community Cath Lab has positive implications for the future of health care in the Miss-Lou, said Tim Trottier, CEO of Natchez Community Hospital.

The Natchez hospital, in a joint venture with Riverpark Medical Center in Vidalia and with cardiologist Dr. Naseem A. Jaffroni, opened the catheterization lab in early January but held the formal ribbon cutting and reception Wednesday.

The new lab, located in the Riverpark center, offers state-of-the-art diagnostic and interventional coronary and peripheral procedures under Jaffroni’s direction.

“This is a great example of our focus on working in collaboration with our medical staff to achieve win-win opportunities,” Trottier said.

“This will allow a service to remain local in our community for patients who otherwise would travel to get it,” he said.

Dr. Randy Tillman, one of the doctor-owners of Riverpark, said the new lab shows growth in health care in the Natchez-Vidalia region.

“We serve a region within a 60-mile radius,” he said. “We’re very proud to have someone with Dr. Jaffroni’s qualifications. He is triple-board certified in intervention, cardiology and intervention cardiology.”

A group of the medical staff that works closely with Jaffroni provided a quick tour of the cath lab during the Wednesday reception.

They included Allen Terrell, director of imaging services at Riverpark; Janee McKinney, nurse manager of the cath unit; Deana Mabry, director of nursing at Riverpark; and Tonia Seals, an imaging services specialist at Riverpark.

Esther Mingee, director of nurses at Community Hospital, also joined the tour. “If a patient needs further observations after the procedures, they will be admitted to Natchez Community,” Mingee said.

Seals praised the quality of the images obtained with the new equipment and described the high-tech system of recording of all information carried out in the lab.

The recovery room, directly across the hall from the lab, includes four beds.

McKinney is responsible for “seeing that everything is ready on cath day,” she said. “I talk to the patients ahead to be sure they have their lab work done. And I make the nurse-patient assignment.”

Each patient is assigned a nurse, who remains with the patient throughout the procedure, she said.

Mabry, who has been at Riverpark since June 2003, said the staff works to provide good patient service, as well. “We try to schedule patients so they don’t have to wait a long time,” she said.

Tillman said the Riverpark cath lab complements the one at Natchez Regional Medical Center. “This cath lab fills a niche,” he said of Riverpark. “It is state-of-the-art.”

The attendance at the ribbon cutting by Health Management Associates vice chairman and CEO Joe Vumbacco shows the significance of the partnership to HMA corporate leaders, Tillman said.

Florida-based HMA owns Natchez Community.

“Mr. Vunbacco sees the future in these kinds of joint ventures,” Tillman said.

Trottier said the cath lab was the first partnership discussed between Riverpark and Community but took longer to implement than the after-hours clinic, which has been up and running for a year.

“The after-hours clinic has been tremendously successful,” Trottier said. “We’ve seen a 10 to 20 percent increase in our patient volume, with a substantial increase from zip codes west of Vidalia. These are patients whom we did not capture before.”

Jaffroni said the lab has been busy since it opened two months ago. “Our patients are excited about it. This enables us to keep the local health care local.”